Timing
by INeedToGoToSasha-hab
Summary: Janes marrying Casey. Maura finally realises how she feels but is it too late. My first attempt at Fanfic inspired by this tumblr post I obviously do not own Rizzoli and Isles. If I didnt we would be a much happier fandom.


Maura awoke with a jump. She put her hands to her face and she realised she had been crying in her sleep. She had dreamt that Jane was marrying Casey and well that was it really. Not that it would be a dream for much longer. The wedding was 2 days away and Maura had been waking up in floods of tears nearly every night since they had announced their engagement. She looked around, feeling sad as she realised Jane was not there. Since the engagement even on their girls nights Jane no longer stayed over at Mauras. Not that Casey minded, she was sure he didn't. She felt Jane was pulling away from her. Not that she had any claim to Jane, she was very aware of the boundaries in their friendship that while both ladies had been single had become blurred. Now Maura realised this was most probably due to the need for companionship on mainly Janes side. She was unsure how to label what she had felt for a long time. As apparently straight women in their now late 30s, Maura wasn't sure how this could even happen. But it had. She was in love with her best friend and cruelly had realised when she was sure there was no way to even broach the topic without hurting someone else or herself. She glanced at the clock beside her and could have cried harder as she realised it was 7.15am. Shes finally fallen asleep at 3am and 4 hours sleep was not enough to get through the rehearsals today. She rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to ready herself for the day.

5 hours later and Maura was fading. She knew Jane would be too and when she stepped out of the dressing room in her dress Maura sank to her knees, Immediately Jane was at her side. 'Hey, are you okay?' Maura was shaking slightly and decided the best defence was to google mouth her way out of this. Jane gazed at Maura as she began describing her physical symptoms and smirked. She stood and looked for the seamstress. 'Right this fits. Thanks again for repairing the strap, I'll be careful next time. We gotta go though. Famished is not the word for us' gesturing between herself and Maura. After changing and taking the dress Jane took Maura's arm and brought her to the car. 'You should've said something sooner. I feel exactly the same' Jane said offhandedly. Maura knew she was talking about hunger but she wished it was something else.

After a quiet lunch Jane dropped Maura home with the promise to return in a few hours. She needed some time alone to collect herself and Maura respected that. Angela was in the kitchen preparing dinner as Maura walked in. Maura said hello and walked past hoping to avoid Angelas questioning eyes and was relieved to see Angela immersed in her work. Maura needed some time alone also. The next 24 hours would be painful she had admitted to herself and she needed to steal a few moments for the build up some sort of defence.

True to her word Jane arrived at 6pm and was greeted by the sight of her mom Angela putting the final touches to her meal and Maura reaching up to get some wine glasses. Surprisingly Maura was in pants not a dress as she usually wore for dinners. Albeit they were a stunning blue color and she was wearing her trade mark heels and a peach silk button down. The top rode up to her waist as she stretched and while Jane hugged her mom she glanced appreciatively at the sight. Pulling away from her mother she smiled and went to help Maura. She hoisted herself up on the counter so she didn't have to stretch and Maura whined 'Jane. That is a food preparation area, get down!'

Jane smirked as she easily grabbed the remaining glasses from the shelf and slipped off the counter nimbly. Maura shook her head but was smiling. Jane was relieved. Maura seemed down recently, so the simple smile warmed Janes heart. She glanced down at the ring Casey gave her and the smile on both the womens faces faltered and Maura casually turned away. Jane didn't see Maura's reaction though so glanced over to her mom and said 'Ma, what can I do to help?'

Angela had been observing the two since Jane had pulled away from their embrace. 'Well first you can stop clowning around. You don't want to be being wheeled up the aisle tomorrow or have a broken nose again do you?' she took in the affect the words had on both women and continued 'We're nearly done, aren't we Maura dear? Just put the glasses out and grab a seat. Maura's picked out some wonderful wine that I have sampled to check it was okay' Jane looked past her mom to the almost empty bottle behind her. 'Sampled?' she said, raising an eyebrow.

'Well, there is more than one bottle Jane' Angela emptied the bottle into Janes glass just as the door bell rang. Both Rizzolis looked around at Maura confused. She smirked 'You didn't know I had a door bell? I'm not surprised, you knock while going in anywhere.' She crossed the kitchen to the door and Jane could hear her greeting Casey and his parent. And by the sounds of it Tommy and Frankie too.

All too soon dinner was underway with the parent chatting amicably and the Rizzoli boys initiating Casey into the fold. Jane glanced around at the table and was unsettled. There were too many people here. Jane often thought this so pushed the thought from her head. She felt a hand on hers and glanced up to see Casey looking at her 'Okay?' 'Yeah, I'm just tired I think. Early night for me' she murmured. Casey smiled and squeezed her hand. Then let it go to start eating again. 'Mrs Rizzoli this is delicious'

Angela smiled. She loved being complimented on her food. 'Thank you Casey' She made no effort to correct him from Mrs Rizzoli to Angela. No one seemed to notice except Maura who had been quietly taking in the scene around her. She wondered why she was there. She was not family. Yes she was maid of honour but she felt that as Angela was living in her guesthouse and was hosting the party she had offered her house and the invite came with it. When Angela didn't correct him Maura started to wonder how Angela actually felt about Casey. She picked at her dinner and poured herself about glass of wine. Angela nudged her saying 'fill me up too please' Maura obliged and looked at Angela. She smiled as Angela said thanks but Angelas face wasn't smiling back. She looked concerned. Right at that moment Tommy called across the table 'Maura, got any beer' Immediately Maura was on her feet welcoming the chance to move away from the table even if it was only for a moment. 'Of course Tommy, would anyone else like a beer?' The 3 Rizzoli children raised their hands as Angela scoffed. 'How can I have 3 children and all of them not appreciate a good wine' Laughter rang throughout the house as Maura went to get the beers. She put both hands on the counter and inhaled deeply.

Suddenly she realised she wasn't alone in the kitchen 'Damn it' she said. 'Excuse me' Angela replied. 'Oh Angela you startled me. I thought I was alone' Maura turned towards Angela and tried to smile but the emotion caught in her throat. Angela's arms were around her before she knew it. Angela whispered 'I know honey, I know' She rubbed Maura's back, and then squeezed her one last time before letting go. 'Oh honey, I'm sorry' Maura looked shocked. 'You know?' she breathed. 'Well of course I just didn't see it ending up this way. I was rooting for you but anytime I tried to mention it to Jane she would clam up and I would hear from her unless I harassed her at work.' Maura felt dazed. Angela knew and she would have been okay with it. She felt the emotion build again when suddenly she decided to stop. If she let it take over now she couldn't reel it back in. She swallowed her tears and handed Angela the beers and disappeared to the bathroom to freshen up. When she returned Angela was in the midst of giving out dessert and the boys, from what she could hear, where loading the dishwasher. She braved a glance at Jane who in all honestly looked as uncomfortable as only Jane Rizzoli could look. They caught each others eyes and smiled softly at one another. Jane looked away as Casey slung his arm around her chair to include her in the conversation with his parents. Jane was confused. She should be elated, on cloud nine. She was marrying Casey Jones tomorrow. She had dreamt of this day for years. For years before she let a certain ME into her life and heart anyway. She nodded along with the conversation through out dessert and when it finished to his credit Casey stood and announced that he was going to return to the hotel with his parents as his beautiful bride was all tuckered out and needed some rest. Jane smiled as she contemplated her future with this man. If she couldn't have the person she wanted she knew she could love this man. She knew he would take care of her. She ignored the feeling that her skin was crawling as she kissed him goodbye and let Maura lead her to the guest bedroom. Maura was also tired Jane figured. She must be if Jane was and she was a whole lot busier too as Jane had no idea how to plan a regular wedding and Maura seemed to know everything on the topic. She pulled her in for a hug and said 'Thank you for everything Maur. You are an amazing best friend. I don't deserve you'

The platitude caused tears to spring again in Maura's eyes and she pulled away. 'Oh Jane don't be silly.' She was smiling though and Jane didn't press any further. 'Lets get some sleep. See you bright and early.' She kissed Maura quickly on the cheek, feeling herself flush at the contact and quickly retreated to the bathroom. Maura stood dazed in the doorway. She knew she had to move. The pain in her chest was becoming unbearable and with a herculean effort she dragged herself to her bedroom and rushed to the shower so no one would hear her tears. Angela stood in the hallway the girls had just vacated and listened and 2 sets of sobs reached her ears. Her heart broke for her girls but she honestly did not know what to do with the newly confirmed information that her daughter and her best friend where desperately in love with one another a day before her daughters impending nuptials. She took herself off to the guest house unsure of how to proceed.

Maura had a fitful sleep and was roused at 6am in tears again and this time could not console herself as she knew the nightmare had just begun. She reached the shower and spent time washed her hair as she had neglected to do in the previous night, much preferring to sink to the floor upon entering the shower cubicle and sobbing heavily till she was exhausted. The tears still flowed but she was able to curb the sobbing. Eventually she gained control and she rinsed the conditioner from her hair and pulled on some sweats. At 7am she was downstairs battling with her coffee machine when a shadow appeared 'Mother..phooey' She heard a snort and realised it was Jane. 'Motherphooey?' Jane laughed as she mimicked her. Maura shook her head. ' I thought you where your mother and its too early to be told off for language by Angela' 'Why would I tell you off for saying 'Motherfucker''? A third voice entered the conversation from the sofa and she saw Angela was sitting there with a coffee in hand watching the news on mute. 'MOM! Really! Youre not allowed to swear! Especially at 7am!' Maura was caught up in the moment and said 'Remember when she called us assholes' Angela laughed then said 'But you were though' Jane glanced at everyone. 'What the hell has happened to you two?' She nipped Maura for effect and snorted as she screeched dramatically at the apparent injury. 'Right someone coffee me already. I cannot get through today without a sufficient about of Joe in my veins' She turned to warn Maura to stop with the educational monologue that was due regarding the millions of generations that managed a much harder work schedule than us 20th and 2st century dwellers without coffee when she was met with silence. Maura had quietly turned away and had her head in the fridge finding ingredients for pancakes. Jane shook her head 'So weird both of you!' She downed the coffee that had miraculously appeared in front of her and poured another and wandered to sit with her mother. At 8am Angela sent Jane to have a shower as the hairdresser would be arriving at 9am and she knew her daughters propensity for long showers when washing her hair. Angela was glad there was a schedule to follow because she needed something to focus on.

Time sailed on and Angela was feeling completely buried by the knowledge she had acquired. Unfortunately she could not share the information as she figured it could only cause heartache so late in the game. She could kick herself for not being braver with Jane. All too soon the hair dresser had Jane completely obscured with her hair. The hair dresser had been arranged by Maura, who personally had decided not to avail of the services personally as she was confident she could handle her own hair. It was the one frivolous expense Jane had allowed from her best friend. She drew the line at that though. She would do her own make up as after 38 years she was sure she could manage it. Maura had surprisingly relented bolstering Jane's confidence in her make up skills. Maura herself had been ready pretty early, and sat watching her hairdresser Antonia wrestle with Jane's wild locks. They were currently splayed over her face as Antonia tamed pulled the rollers out of the back and lightly tonged the curls in to submission. Jane was unable to see how Maura looked at her. Unabashedly in love and broken hearted. She wore the look for just moment while Angela was out of the room.

'Owww!' Jane howled as heat from the curling tong travelled up her hair and into the root, roasting her scalp from the inside. Almost immediately she felt a hand on her knee. 'Stop squirming Jane, it won't be so bad if you stay still'. Tears pricked Jane's again and not from the pain. Her typical defensive and witty response caught in her throat as she glanced up into Maura's green eyes. 'Maur…' Jane's head was adjusted by the hairdresser and the hand left her knee, being replaced by cold air. Jane placed her hand on her knee trying to save some of Maura's heat. She was uncomfortable as hell but Maura had arranged this and sure as shooting she would make it through something for her without complaining.

An hour later and 3 women stood in front of a floor to ceiling mirror in Maura's walk in closet. The 2 women on either side of the bride had eyes shining from tears. Jane was staring uncomfortably at herself and it was made worse by all the emotion in the room. Maura was gazing at Jane, She felt like she needed to run, to get away. She recognised the fight or flight reactions within her body and steeled herself for it to get worse before it gets better. She didn't notice the elder Rizzoli slowly moving her gaze from her daughter to Maura. She blinked away the tears that had clouded her vision and saw Angela's eyes on her. 'You okay' Angela mouthed. Maura looked down for a moment when Jane spoke. She had caught the exchange and said 'Whats up Maur? You not feeling well?'

Maura froze. She couldn't lie and she couldn't googlemouth her way out of it so she simply said 'Excuse me' and rushed into her bathroom. Jane turned quickly to her mother 'Do you know what is going on Ma? Is she sick? Should one of us go in there?'

'She love you and this is hard for her' Angela answered.

It was Janes turn to freeze 'What?'

Angela thought screw it and didn't bother trying to censor herself now. She looked her daughter in the eye. Her Janie. She had grown into the most wonderful adult Angela could have hoped for. So she wasn't a girls girl, she drunk beer, was terrible showing emotion and choose a career in the police force which insured Angela lost 10 years off her life she was sure due to worry, But she loved her fiercely and wouldn't change her if she could. She would still do anything to make her daughter happy and the past 24 hours had made her realise giving Casey permission for Janes hand in marriage (albeit after the proposal) was a definite mistake. A mother knows and Angela knew how her daughter felt about Maura Isles for a long time yet couldn't succinctly find the words to tell Jane before she was cut off each and every time she broached the subject.

'Jane she loves you.' She gauged Jane's silent reaction, Jane's eyes grew wide and full of tears. 'Mommy' she whispered 'What do I do?' Angela answered as honestly as she could 'If you have any doubts Janie you cannot go through with this wedding' She steeled herself for Janes explosion. It didn't come. Jane instead slowly nodded her head and looked at the bathroom. 'I have no doubts now' and Angela knew she wasn't talking about Casey. Angela pulled her in and held her tight. 'Go to your girl' She whispered 'Quickly. I'll call Casey but he's going to fight for you. You wont have much time to prepare'

With that she left the room and Jane approached the bathroom door. She knocked and called out 'Maur, sweetheart are can I come in?' Inside the bathroom Maura glanced at the door. She tried to answer. To tell Jane to give her a minute but the words caught in her throat and instead a sob ripped out. That was all it took for the door to swing open and Jane to rush in. As her arms enveloped her, Maura thought she noticed tears streaking Jane's face and wondered why she was also crying. They held each other for what seemed like an eternity before Jane remembered the Casey situation. She pulled back, just far enough away to rest her forehead on Maura's. Jane look directly into Maura's green watery eyes and everything she wanted to say disappeared as she saw the pain in Maura's looking back at her. Her heart felt like it weighed more than a small planet as it sat heavily in her chest. She caused the pain and she didn't know if anything she could say would take it away again. She prepared herself to speak when she heard 'I love you, I'm sorry.' Jane felt relief flood her body and then all of a sudden fear. She had dreamed of Maura saying them for so long and now she finally had and it was on Jane's wedding day. Nothing was ever simple with Maura. Her mouth opened before she could properly think and she spoke truthfully. 'I love you Maura, and please never apologise. I should be the one apologising for being so afraid. I'm sorry. I don't deserve you.' They stood like that for several minutes, content to let their declarations of love wash over them. 'Casey' Jane's heart felt like it was being ripped out as Maura spoke his name. She pulled herself from the embrace 'I'm sorry Maura, I have to go tell him in person. I cannot let my mother deal with this.' Maura looked at Jane and nodded. Jane was not a cheater and even though she did not want to marry Casey she needed to finish things with him before she could truly open up to Maura. This gave Maura comfort that she indeed knew her best friend and loved her even more for her honesty and integrity. 'Go, I'll be waiting for you when you finish' Maura said and with that Jane exited the bathroom, unzipped the dress and let it fall to the ground. She left the wedding underwear on as she pulled on some of Maura's clothes. She figured Maura wouldn't mind.

She grabbed her phone and noticed 10 missed calls and 4 messages. 9 calls and all the messages where from Casey and 1 call was from her mom. She returned that call first as she wanted to get a lay of the land so to speak. Angela answered on the 2nd ring and spoke immediately 'He wants to see you. Call him' …'Jane..talk to me. How is Maura?' The mention of Maura got Jane's attention and she responded 'Maura's okay ma. I just gotta speak to Casey and start cancelling the wedding. Why couldn't this happen before ma!?' Jane felt the tears hot and unstable on her eyes and shook her head. 'I gotta go Ma, I'll call him now' She had made it to her car. She needed some privacy for this and she took off to her apartment. Once in the door she pressed call. Casey also picked up on the 2nd ring 'Jane, where are you? What is going on?' Jane was surprised how easy she found her words 'Casey, you need to come to my apartment. I have to speak to you' 'On my way' and with that the line was dead.

Jane paced the floor til there was a knock at her door 20 mins later. She checked the peep hole and it was Casey. He did have a key but he had clearly felt obliged to knock. Jane was interested as to what her mother said. She opened her door and stepped back allowing Casey in. He walked straight to the fridge and grabbed a beer. Then headed toward the whiskey, poured himself a glass, shot it and chased it with the beer. He then sat on by the breakfast bar and looked Jane dead in the eye. 'Okay I'm ready' Jane suddenly wasn't so calm. She knew she had nothing more than platonic feelings towards Casey but having to break to break his heart was suddenly nowhere near the top of her bucket list for today. She thought of Maura and her heart yearned to get back to her. Unconsciously she slide the ring off her finger and placed in on the counter. She returned Casey's gaze and spoke 'I'm sorry Casey, I need to cancel the wedding. I don't want to feed you excuses right now, I do care about you deeply but my feeling for someone else have been at the forefront of my thoughts for a long time and it is not fair to you to for you to have to accept that' 'Is it her?' Casey spoke flatly. Jane couldn't lie 'Yes' she whispered. Casey smirked saying ' I should have known, its completely obvious. I cant pretend to be happy right now but I'll get over it. I'll get over you Jane, but I'm going to leave now. I just wish you had figured this out sooner'

'Wait Casey, the wedding…'

'it's a bit late now to worry about that Jane, between your mom and mine we should be covered. Goodbye Jane'

Jane was shell shocked. She had expected explosions and instead he walked away. She poured herself a small whiskey and sank it followed by the rest of the beer, and called a cab. She threw a few things in an overnight bag and headed down to the stoop to wait.

It didn't take long and 30 minutes later was knocking Maura's door. Her mom surprisingly answered and greeted Jane with a confused expression. Jane waved her away and said 'he knew he wasn't the one and walked away' She continued away from her mother who she noticed slide out the back door to give Jane and Maura privacy. Upon reaching Maura's bedroom she was suddenly nervous. What was happening? She glanced inside and found Maura on the bed. Maura looked up and found Detective Jane Rizzoli standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She smiled and sprung up on the bed. Jane was studying her and she liked it. As she got closer Jane moved in and closed the door. Maura glanced at Jane's finger and saw the ring has gone. She took that as a sign to approach. Her arms made it around Jane's waist and she felt Jane's arms come around her neck, while Jane bent slightly to whisper in her ear 'May I kiss you Dr Isles?' Maura nodded and softy their lip met. After a few moments they both smiled into the kiss knocked their teeth together causing raucious laughter to explode from both girls. Clearly this new development would not affect their friendship.


End file.
